Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection July 23, 2025
Wednesday – 16th Week in Ordinary Time
23rd July 2025 (Wednesday)
Psalter: Week 4
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15
The people of Israel set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”
Psalm 78:18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28, (R. 24b)
R/. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live forever.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Wednesday – 16th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: People’s faith and faithfulness is wavering and easily deviating. But God is ever merciful and faithful. He does not act immediately according to people’s infidelity but His fidelity
1. The people were hungry in the wilderness. They begin to murmur once again against Moses and God. They recall and even relish the food as slaves in Egypt. They forget the disgrace of their slavery. Rather the material concern dominates the higher concerns like freedom, dignity, faith, fidelity, etc.
2. But God is not angered by their ingratitude or fluctuating faith. He is aware of their concern. He is also clear of His priorities. In that context, what was most needed and urgent was food and a spiritual discourse. He provides them manna from heaven.
3. Yes, our God is a God who cares and provides. Certainly, He knows our various concerns. But, He wants us to give priority to the higher concerns above the merely physical and material.
4. Our story should not be like that of the Israelites. Again and again, they become forgetful, ungrateful and unfaithful. They succumb to the pressure of worldly preoccupations. They fail to rise up to the higher designs of God. They fail to understand God’s grace and fail to respond and cooperate.
5. Ultimately what matters in our life is our receptivity and productivity. This is what Jesus teaches us through the parable of the sower. God always supplies to us and plants in us the seeds of His grace. There are four types of soil – wayside, rocky, thorny and fertile.
6. The question is not so much which category of soil we are. In fact, we have all the foul kinds within us. At times, we are like the roadside soil, so indifferent and completely closed to God’s grace. At times, we are like the rocky soil, with no roots and depth and easily exposed to and scorched by the heat of difficulties. At times, we are the bushy and thorny soil, choked by many needless pressures and pleasures of the world. And at times, we are also like the fertile soil, producing a rich harvest.
My Practice: The beauty of our Christian life is in constantly turning our roadside, rocky and bushy soils into a fertile soil. The more we succeed in making ourselves receptive and fertile, the more we will be productive and fruitful
